Motion Picture Review Digest (Jan-Dec 1936)

82 MOTION PICTURE REVIEW DIGEST LONGEST NIGHT — Continued "The plot is good and the setting novel, but the later sequences are handled in a slapstick manner which gives a noisy and contused ending to otherwise good entertainment for adults." Am Legion Auxiliary "Good entertainment for those who like this type of picture. Adults & 14-18: amusing; 814: no." Calif Cong of Par & Teachers "It has some clever moments, but toward the end becomes rather confusing and a fine cast struggles in vain to make real people out of shadowy unreal characters. Rating: fair. Mature." Calif Fed of Business & Professional Women's Clubs "Mature & 14-18. Mediocre." DAR "Good characterizations and comedy but the action is exaggerated and a confused group of people race about till one's brain reels trying to keep the thread of the story. This type of film brings ridicule upon the film industry. For confirmed mystery story addicts of mature years." Nat Soc of New England Women "Too exciting and confusing for the average child; it might appeal to an adult audience." S Calif Council of Fed Church Women "It is seldom our lot to review such a fearfully chaotic, melodramatic picture as this. . Gun shots, screams, crashing dishes and a wild musical accompaniment increase the din and confusion. Though intended to be farcical, the picture is not funny and it is too poorly done to be interesting even as a murder mystery. Adults." Women's Univ Club, Los Angeles Fox W Coast Bui O 3 '36 "Entertainment for those who like strong fare and are unmindful of discrepancies. Mature." _j Gen Fed of Women's Clubs (W Coast) S 23 '36 "Mature." Jt Estimates S 15 '36 "An improbable but quite delightful thriller where every minute there is 'something doing.' It has the double merit of being extremely funny and extremely exciting and though it fades away a little at the end it can be highly recommended as entertainment. . . The direction has blended all the parts so that tragedy and comedy form a coherent whole and we are kept interested in everyone. Suitability: family." + Mo Film Bui pl73 O '36 "Fair. Adults & young adults." _j Motion Pict Guide D '36 "A very involved murder mystery in which a notable cast make every effort but with little result. The story is poorly constructed and the direction confusing. Fair for the _l_ _ Nat Council of Jewish Women S 21 '36 "[It] will please any audience that is in search of excitement. General patronage." Nat Legion of Decency O 8 '36 "A: fair; Y: possible; C: no." Parents' M p32 D '36 "Mature." Sel Motion Pict p5 O 1 '36 Newspaper and Magazine Reviews Reviewed by Laura Elston Canadian M p38 N '36 "If this were a full length film— it runs only 50 minutes — it would probably live up to its title It's a murder mystery farce and pretty much of a farce as a murder mystery. Adults." — Christian Science Monitor pl7 O 31 '36 "Occasionally a film is preposterous to the point of being excellent entertainment. Robert Andrews' deliberate humor has made of Courtland Fitzsimmons' original story just such delightful nonsense. . . Throughout, 'The Longest Night' is asparkle with the hoydonish fun everyone (except the murdered lady) seems to be having. So although it, at some time or other, breaks almost all cinematic law, it does it so charmingly, and so obviously with a 'by your leave,' that producers Lucien Hubbard and Samuel Marx will find they have a minor Big Hit. But they probably know it already." Paul Jacobs + Hollywood Spec pl3 S 26 '36 "After leaving the Rialto, one has an impression of having looked at something through a telescope out of focus. Nevertheless, the dizzy doings that comprise 'The Longest Night' will make you forget your most heated political argument, though possibly also it may make you doubt your sanity." Marguerite Tazelaar N Y Herald Tribune p8 O 17 '36 "It is doubtful if even Metro, the munificent, can really afford to throw away such an interesting title and such an excellent cast of secondary, if not primary, players, as it has unaccountably wasted on 'The Longest Night.' . . [It is] disjointed, crackbrained and embellished with all the cliches of murder mystery and farce. . . To tell you which character is responsible for this killing, and for the others that take place during the course of an admittedly long evening, would be unfair, and would spoil the fun you'll have in guessing it almost immediately after the picture opens." B. R. C. — NY Times p21 O 17 '36 "Improbable as the statement may seem, 'The Longest Night' is not very good. This statement is made regretfully, since what the Times Square cinema sector could stand at the moment is a good, robust shocker to send the chills up and down moviegoers' spines. However, 'The Longest Night' is not that package of thrills, even though it does get off to a pretty good start. . . Clumsily constructed, and directed in a feeble and ineffective manner, 'The Longest Night' completely wastes the talents of a really good cast of players." William Boehnel H N Y World-Telegram p7a O 17 '36 "Among the inconsiderable, yet spry, little moments I would list 'The Longest Night.' Take it in, if it turns up at the local temple. This is just a thriller with a good splash of farce, perhaps too much farce. . . A scramble in the kitchenware department, a murder on the upholstery floor, a kleptomaniac busy in the sporting-goods wing, and killers loose all over the place, make the piece bright." John Mosher _j New Yorker p79 O 24 '36 "The maw must be filled; hence B, C and D pictures. I don't know how this one classifies, but while it is a million miles from art it rates fairly high in the present madhouse cycle. At least it panics the [children] and grown-ups with [juvenile] minds. . . It seems kinda crool to subject such charming actors as Robert Young, Catherine Doucet, Janet Beecher, Etienne Girardot and Samuel Hinds to such goofiness." Script pll S 26 '36 " 'The Longest Night' is designed rather for the Saturday morning diversion of school children than for the august judgment of the cognoscenti. It is a reasonably brisk embodiment of what neighborhood houses expect from a murder in a department store." } Time p36 O 12 '36 Trade Paper Reviews "Although suffering from a flimsy story, and a far-fetched climax, this picture has some merry moments of bangup comedy, and emerges a convincing laugh effort. It is not aimed at top billing, but will lend sturdy support to any dual. Family." 4 Box Office p63 S 19 '36 "This comedy mystery-melodrama should fit nicely on the average bill. That the story is confused makes little difference since the satire furnishes plenty of entertainment. . . Errol Taggart's direction manages to forget + + Exceptionally Good; -f Good; H Fair; 1 Mediocre; —Poor; Exceptionally Poor